Sintering machines

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for the gaseous treatment of solid materials of the kind wherein a plurality of pallets each having a base in the form of a grate are adapted to be moved in end-to-end abutting relationship through treatment zone where a gaseous medium is passed through material on the pallets, and provided with sealing means to ensure a seal between the sides of the pallets and the sides of means for the supply of treatment gas in the treatment zone, characterised in that said sealing means comprise opposed slidably engaging sealing strips carried by the sides of the pallets and the sides of the means for supply of treatment gas respectively, there being longitudinally extending leaf springs sealably connecting the strips carried by one of these parts with the part and urging same into sealing engagement with the opposed strips.

United States Patent 1191 Marsh July 10, 1973 [54] SINTERING MACHINES FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1 lhvemerl Francis Marsh 70 Atwood Road, 165,742 12/1933 Switzerland 49/489 Manchester, England 22 pu Apr 2 1972 Primary Examiner-John .1. Camby AttorneyJames E. Nolan 21 Appl. No.: 247,894

Related US. Application Data ABSTRACT [63] Continuation of Ser. No- 70,074, Sept. 8, 1970, pparatus for the gaseous treatment of solid materials abandoned. of the land wherem a plurahty of pallets each having a base in the form of a grate are adapted to be moved in [30] Foreign A licati n Pri it Data end-to-end abutting relationship through treatment Oct. 20 1969 Great Britain 51 359/69 where a gaseous medium is Passed hmugh material on the pallets, and provided with sealing means to 52 us. c1 266/21 34/236 432/245 ensure a between the Sides of the Pehets and 51 Int. Cl. .1 1 271) 9/00 sides ef means for the PP ef treatment 8 58 Field of Search 263/28- 266/21- treatment Zene, eheraeterised Said Sealing 49/486 means comprise opposed slidably engaging sealing strips carried by the sides of the pallets and the sides of [56] References Cited the means for supply of treatment gas respectively,

there being longitudinally extending leaf springs seala- UNITED STATES PATENTS bly connecting the strips carried by one of these parts g; i g' with the part and urging same into sealing engagement 0y 1,345,391 7/1920 O'Connor 49/480 the smps' 2,861,792 11/1958 Porteus et a1 266/21 13 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures SINTERING MACHINES This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 70,074, filed Sept. 8, 1970, now abandoned.

This invention concerns apparatus for the gaseous treatment of solid materials particularly, though not exclusively, sintering apparatus, and being of the kind wherein a plurality of pallets each having a base in the form of a grate, are adapted to be moved in end-to-end abutting relationship through a treatment zone where a gaseous medium is passed through material on the pallets.

In such apparatus it is necessary to seal the sides of the pallets with respect to the supply of gaseous medium to ensure that the gas flows through the material on the pallets and not around the sides thereof. It will be understood that sealing is not necessary at the ends of the pallets since the pallets are moved through the treatment zone in end-to-end abutting relationship.

According to the present invention apparatus for the gaseous treatment of solid materials of the kind wherein a plurality of pallets each having a base in the form of a grate are adapted to be moved in end-to-end abutting relationship through a treatment zone where a gaseous medium is passed through material on the pallets, and provided with sealing means to ensure a seal between the sides of the pallets and the sides of means for the supply of treatment gas in the treatment zone, is characterised in that said sealing means comprise opposed slidably engaging sealing strips carried by the sides of the pallets and the sides of the means for supply of treatment gas respectively, there being longitudinally extending leaf springs sealably connecting the strips carried by one of these parts with the part and urging same into sealing engagement withthe opposed strips.

The invention will be further apparent from the following description with reference to the several figures of the accompanying drawing, which show, by way of example only, one form of apparatus being sintering apparatus embodying the invention.

Of the drawings:

FIG. I shows a general arrangement drawing of the sintering apparatus;

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged cross-section of the apparatus on the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged fragmentary view of the sealing arrangements provided on the apparatus of FIG. 2 at the underside of the pallet;

and FIG. 4 shows an enlarged fragmentary view of a modified sealing arrangement.

Referring firstly to FIG. 1 itwill be seen that the apparatus comprises a plurality of pallets 10 which are adapted to be moved continuously on rails 11 around an endless path, having upper and lower runs. The pallets are in end-to-end abutting relationship as they move along the upper run through a treatment zone defined between wind boxes 12 beneath the run and a hood 13 above the run.

Turning now to FIG. 2 it will be seen that each pallet has a base in the form or a grate 10a. The pallets are equipped with wheels 14 which engage with the rails II. In order that the combustion air, supplied from the wind boxes 12 is constrained to flow upwardly through the grates 10a and hence through the material carried by the pallets, it is necessary to provide a seal between the sides of the pallets l0 and the sides of the wind boxes 12.

Each pallet is provided with flanges 15 which depend from opposed lateral sides of the grate 10a and terminate in spaced relationship from frame members 16 running along the sides of the wind boxes 12 and seals generally indicated at 17 are formed between these parts.

Referring to FIG. 3 it will be seen that each flange 15 has a channel 18 therein which houses the upper crosssectional part of an elongated leaf spring 19 of generally S-shaped cross-section and which extends over the length of the side of the pallet. The lower edge of the spring 19 has a strip 20 secured thereto and which is forced by the spring action into sealing engagement with a wear strip 21 carried by the frame member 16.

It will be appreciated that as the pallets are progressed through the treatment zone the strips 20 are slidably drawn over the strips 21 and that the seal is maintained throughout movement of the pallets 10 through the treatment zone.

The seal may be modified as shown in FIG. 4, wherein a leaf spring 30 of generally L-shaped crosssection is secured by bolts 31 to the sides of the wind boxes 12, the upper longitudinal edge of the spring 30 having a strip 32 secured thereto which is urged upwardly into sealing engagement with a wear strip 33 secured to the base of the flange 15.

If desired the sides of the pallets 10 may be sealed relative to the hood 13 by similar arrangements of leaf springs and slidably engaging sealing strips as generally indicated at 40 on FIG. 2.

It will be appreciated that it is not intended to limit the invention to the above example only, many variations, such as might readily occur to one skilled in the art, being possible, without departing from the scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for the gaseous treatment of solid materials wherein a plurality of pallets each having a base in the form of a grate are adapted to be moved in end-toend abutting relationship through a treatment zone having means whereby a gaseous medium is supplied and passed through material on the pallets, characterized by means providing substantially gas tight sealing along the opposite sides of the pallets comprising at each side of each pallet opposed slidably engaging sealing strip means carried by respective parts on the sides of the pallets and the sides of the means for supply of treatment gas and additional seal means comprising longitudinally extending leaf springs, each leaf spring acting as a gas tight seal by sealably connecting the strip means carried by one of said parts with that part and resiliently urging the opposed strip means into sealing engagement, one with the other.

2. Apparatus according to claim I wherein the treatment gas is supplied by wind boxes disposed below the path of movement of the pallets in the treatment zone whereby the gas is passed upwardly through the material on the pallets.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein each pallet has opposed lateral flanges depending from its base, said sealing means being located between the lower edges of said flanges and the upper side edges of said windboxes.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said longitudinally extending leaf springs are secured to the lower edges of said flanges to urge the strip means secured thereto into sealing and sliding engagement with strip means secured to the upper side edges of said windboxes.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said leaf springs are of generally S-shaped cross-section and are secured by their own spring action to the lower edges of said flanges by having part of their cross-section located in channels in said lower edges.

6. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said longitudinally extending leaf springs are secured to the upper side edges of the windboxes to urge the strip means secured thereto into sealing and sliding engagement with strip means secured to the lower edgesof said flanges.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said leaf springs are of generally L-shaped cross-section and are secured to the upper side edges of said windboxes by bolts.

8. Apparatus according to claim 2 having a hood for collection of treatment gases disposed over the path of movement of the pallets in the treatment zone.

9. Apparatus according to claim having a hood for collection of treatment gases disposed over the path of movement of the pallets in the treatment zone.

10. Apparatus according to claim 7 having a hood for collection of treatment gases disposed over the path of movement of the pallets in the treatment zone.

11. Apparatus according to claim 8 including upper sealing means between the sides of the hood and the sides of the pallets, said upper sealing means comprising opposed slidably engaging sealing strips carried by the sides of the pallets and the sides of the hood respectively, there being longitudinally extending leaf springs sealably connecting the strips carried by one of these parts with the part and urging same into sealing engagement with the opposed strips.

12. Apparatus according to claim 9 including upper sealing means between the sides of the hood and the sides of the pallets, said upper sealing means comprising opposed slidably engaging sealing strips carried by the sides of the pallets and the sides of the hood respectively, there being longitudinally extending leaf springs sealably connecting the strips carried by one of these parts with the part and urging same into sealing engagement with the opposed strips.

13. Apparatus according to claim 10 including upper sealing means between the sides of the hood and the sides of the pallets, said upper sealing means comprising opposed slidably engaging sealing strips carried by the sides of the pallets and the sides of the hood respectively, there being longitudinally extending leaf springs sealably connecting the strips carried by one of these parts with the part and urging same into sealing engagement with the opposed strips.

7 UN [TED S'I'A'IES PA'lEN' ()FFI CE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent: No. 3,744,777 Dated July 10, I973 Inventor) FRANCIS MARSH It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that: said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the line after identification of the Inventor insert 7 A s ignee m ;ve "Limiteqy f Stockport, Cheshire, England Signed-and sealed this 26th day of February 1971 (SEAL) Attest; I

EDWARD I LFLETCEERJR. I C. MARSHALL DANN Attes ting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM 0-69) USCOMM-DC 60376-P09 &

" i 0.5. GOVERHMENY PR NT NG OF'ICI: "I! 0l-J3l 

1. Apparatus for the gaseous treatment of solid materials wherein a plurality of pallets each having a base in the form of a grate are adapted to be moved in end-to-end abutting relationship through a treatment zone having means whereby a gaseous medium is supplied and passed through material on the pallets, characterized by means providing substantially gas tight sealing along the opposite sides of the pallets comprising at each side of each pallet opposed slidably engaging sealing strip means carried by respective parts on the sides of the pallets and the sides of the means for supply of treatment gas and additional seal means comprising longitudinally extending leaf springs, each leaf spring acting as a gas tight seal by sealably connecting the strip means carried by one of said parts with that part and resiliently urging the opposed strip means into sealing engagement, one with the other.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the treatment gas is supplied by wind boxes disposed below the path of movement of the pallets in the treatment zone whereby the gas is passed upwardly through the material on the pallets.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein each pallet has opposed lateral flanges depending from its base, said sealing means being located between the lower edges of said flanges and the upper side edges of said windboxes.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said longitudinally extending leaf springs are secured to the lower edges of said flanges to urge the strip means secured thereto into seaLing and sliding engagement with strip means secured to the upper side edges of said windboxes.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said leaf springs are of generally S-shaped cross-section and are secured by their own spring action to the lower edges of said flanges by having part of their cross-section located in channels in said lower edges.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said longitudinally extending leaf springs are secured to the upper side edges of the windboxes to urge the strip means secured thereto into sealing and sliding engagement with strip means secured to the lower edges of said flanges.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said leaf springs are of generally L-shaped cross-section and are secured to the upper side edges of said windboxes by bolts.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 2 having a hood for collection of treatment gases disposed over the path of movement of the pallets in the treatment zone.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 5 having a hood for collection of treatment gases disposed over the path of movement of the pallets in the treatment zone.
 10. Apparatus according to claim 7 having a hood for collection of treatment gases disposed over the path of movement of the pallets in the treatment zone.
 11. Apparatus according to claim 8 including upper sealing means between the sides of the hood and the sides of the pallets, said upper sealing means comprising opposed slidably engaging sealing strips carried by the sides of the pallets and the sides of the hood respectively, there being longitudinally extending leaf springs sealably connecting the strips carried by one of these parts with the part and urging same into sealing engagement with the opposed strips.
 12. Apparatus according to claim 9 including upper sealing means between the sides of the hood and the sides of the pallets, said upper sealing means comprising opposed slidably engaging sealing strips carried by the sides of the pallets and the sides of the hood respectively, there being longitudinally extending leaf springs sealably connecting the strips carried by one of these parts with the part and urging same into sealing engagement with the opposed strips.
 13. Apparatus according to claim 10 including upper sealing means between the sides of the hood and the sides of the pallets, said upper sealing means comprising opposed slidably engaging sealing strips carried by the sides of the pallets and the sides of the hood respectively, there being longitudinally extending leaf springs sealably connecting the strips carried by one of these parts with the part and urging same into sealing engagement with the opposed strips. 